Actuating mechanism for piano-players, &amp;c.



G. P. BRAND. AOTUATING MECHANISM FOR PIANO PLAYERS, 6w.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 12, 1910.

Patented Aug. 27, 1912.

Z ail whom it may concem Be it known that I GEORGE BRAND, a citizen of the U1 itecl. of America, and resident of New York, in the county of 1*? York and State of Mew York, have insenteelcertain new and useful improve nents in notueting clmnism for Piano- Ployers which the foilowing is a SPOClfiCfl'iLlOD.

' his lilTEfli'iOH iehites to cert ements in o'otns oresent invention has fol its objects 'tl 1 provide simple ITIQChZU'llSD] iet veeif the pneuumtics and iing of Fee... rein vol of when desired. yet insuring proper relation between the the levers. rthol' obj to provide for the i'egulstingqihuttons in planes anti, accessible thou! removal nnoe nstiuc mm etion are plOCiHC cation, ant in Whidl @TUCEH tr sverse ion on: a port 1 1 of a piano .mciyung my pres umnroye- A on eioveti 1n the arrow 2 in 1. Fig. 3

, ion on the line 3*? of nig.

W direction of the arrow. 4:5 ":11 in side elevation. with the eiE-lznown or approved form of 1. 12? chest.

V 7 ne toe tubes aifordmg connection hetween the some and the neumatics new and E'EEGHANISIE march 12,

6 are the stationary members of the pneunmtios '7 are the obi nts on said. stationary members. They are slotted at their outer encls, as seen at 8, to permit of the removal of the connecting you, soon to be described, as will be readily iu'lderstoocL 11 is the sticker or- :ibstmot of the piano action and 12 the shoe carried. thereby.

13 is the piano key.

14; a. lever fulciumetl to e flange 15 in the usual manner and carrying at. its rear end the upward projection 01' member 16 for engagement with the under side of the shoe, as will be clearly understood upon reference to Fig. 1. The flange 15 depends from the lever mil 1? in the usual manner.

18 is a spring interposed between the lever and the lever 14 anti disposed eta point between the upwardly extending member- 16 thefiunge 15, for a purpose which wil soon he made clear. The other end of the lev r is provided "ith on opening 19,

'" mete of this level" is o o? analogous material,

. .v This punching serves (1 also as a e mm for t: button 29 which is The openl, of contin the rod 21, 1e rod with the unoi'hei: regu- *"ehle on the rod and for :1 purpose on he made clear.

Step-anon irom the lugs 9 e r r LA.

on be 3 of the pneumatics. "Tfney pefiorsteii transversely, as seen at 1503? the reception of the upper ends of he connecting i'ois 21. Each of those Foils its upper enci bent laterally teeming an offset 26. the terminal portion being extended through the opening 25 in the lug; down or deflected, seen at Qt? in Figs. 2 and This beings the rod 21 in vertical alinementwith the point of engagement of the horizontal member 27 with the Wall of the opening 25 in the lug 2 1 so as to get direct vertioei ppessure to avoid strain or distortion of the parts.

In assembling the parts the upper ends of the connecting rods are engaged in the lugs 24 in the manner described, the front ends of the levers 14: are then pressed clown- Wardly, so as to allow of the insertion of the other purposes. The rods 21, after being disengaged from the openings in the front ends of the levers by depression of the lat ter, are movable endwise through the slots 8 of tlie abutments 7 and-then their upper ends are readily disengaged from the openings 25 of the lugs 24. The buttons 23 are adjustable on the rod- 21 inv the direction of the length hereof for cotiperation with the abutments so as to limit the movement of the pneumatics in action, allowing the necessary movement of the levers 14 to impart the proper movement to the stickers 11 to give the necessary movement to the wippens, as usual.

It is well known that the sticker in its vertical movement has also a slight movement toward the front at its lower end. In using the lever 14: in contact with the lug 12 mounted on the sticker which is used in a great many different forms of actions, the lever should be so constructed as to avoid friction and thereby the wear in the contact of the lever with the lug. By drawing a circle from the key bearing 'punching 29 as a center and the top of the capstan 30, it will be readily seen that by the upward movement of said capstan 30, there is a.

travel forward and the sticker is guided by a tongue lever 31 which is put on a slant sufficient to cause the bottom part of the sticker 11 hearing on the capstan 30 to cause no friction at this point. Ordinarily this forward movement tends to create undue fric tion between the shoe and the part with which it contacts. I aim to overcome this friction and for this purpose I provide the essee"? upward extension '16 on the rear end of the lever, the upper face of which is preferably rounded, asseen in Fig. 1. This raised portion brings. the contact point between the lever and the under face of the shoe at a higher level than the fulcrum point of the lever, so that it will take the same general direction forward as the movement of the lug 12 onthe sticker does, when thelower end thereof is moved forward, as above stated. The spring 18 tends at all times, when not otherwise influenced, to keep the forward ends of the levers 14:- up in close contact with the abutments 22.

Modifications in details may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the jection, a spring acting on said lever be-- tween its fulcrum and said'projection, an arm on the pneumatic, a rod pivotally connected with said arm and loosely movable through the slot of the abutment, and buttons on the rod on opposite sides of the abutment, the said lever having a bearing against the lowermost button.

2. A pneumatic, a pivoted lever operatively connected therewith'and having'at one end an upward projection, a spring acting on the lever adjacent its fulcrum and between the latter and said projection and tending to keep the pneumatic in its 'open condition, a sticker, and a shoecarried thereby, the upward projection on the lever having its upper face so rounded for contact with the under face of said shoe at a higher level than the fulcrum-point of the lever as to cause said face and the shoe to move forward in substantially rollin contact when the sticker is moved vertical y.

Signed byme at Washington, D. C., this 11th day of March 1910.

GEORGE P. BRAND.

Witnesses:

E. H. .BOND, JOHN SCRIVENER. 

